ZooParc de Beauval African Elephant born at Beauval

[Nisha]

Beauval has welcomed it's first ever African Elephant calf in the form of a healthy bull who was born to Ndala on 20th July. They claim the calf is the first African Elephant to be born in France. The calf was conceived by AI in 2010 using semen from a wild bull so this calf is geneticlly important to the EEP with both parents being the offspring of wild individuals. English members may remember that Ndala was one of Beauvals original herd who transfered from Longleat in March 2003 so sure that Longleat will also be overjoyed at this news.
ZooParc de Beauval - Naissance d'un éléphant !

 

[BjoernN]

A second cow, "Mbili", died under the birth of a calf, also conceived by AI from different bulls, from the wild and from european zoos. So nobody knows, who really sired the living calf.

 

[gorgeousingray]

success story and a tragedy. I wonder what other facilities in Europe are utilizing Beauval's semen bank. It is only a matter of time before a similar program is erected in the U.S. as the genetic material is waiting in South Africa fro shipment to Pittsburgh (after all the red tape is taken care of). It's hard to be happy in this situation when we not only lost a calf but its equally valuable mother as well.

 

[jusko88]

I'm sorry to hear about the passing of Mbili and her calf but like gorgeousingray said what a success story as well. I'm from Pittsburgh and Im so proud that the zoo was successful in Artificially Inseminated with semen from a wild bull in Africa as part of Project Frozen Dumbo, an initiative in which the zoo participates. The Pittsburgh zoo says Next year will be very exciting for those of us, who are concerned about the conservation of threatened and Endangered species, such as the African Elephant. With new and innovative techniques and advanced care practices, we are very excited for the possibilities this creates for us to take our conservation efforts for African elephants to new heights.